Davis Cup World Group Qualifying: Germany, Spain Advance

Austria d. Ecuador 4-1

Austria's Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer shut down any final-day heroics from Ecuador from the get-go on Sunday, sealing a place in the 2006 World Group with a 7-5, 6-4, 7-5 win over Nicolas Lapentti.

"Jurgen had a terrific weekend and deserved to beat me today," said Lapentti, who had beaten Melzer twice before. "Hopefully we can go a step further next year. The Davis Cup is a great competition and I raise my game playing for my country. It is important we get in to the World Group."

Belarus d. Canada 3-2

Belarus left the home-court Canadians holding the loser bag Sunday, coming back from 1-2 down in the tie to secure a place in the 2006 World Group when Max "The Beast" Mirnyi defeated Frank Dancevic 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, then Vladimir "The Vladiator" Voltchkov beat Frederic Niemeyer in four sets.

Chile d. Pakistan 5-0

Chile's "B"-team of Paul Capdeville and Adrian Garcia complete the sweep for the 2006 World Group qualifiers.

Germany d. Czech Republic 3-2

Czech Tomas Berdych evened the tie Sunday with an opening win over Nicolas Kiefer 7-5 in the fifth, but Tommy Haas filled the hero role for Germany with a 6-7(3), 7-5, 6-2, 6-0 win over Czech No. 2 Tomas Zib to put Germany back in the World Group.

"We are more than happy to be back in the World Group," said German captain Patrik Kuhnen. "I hope we have a lucky draw...Kiefer today played the best Davis Cup match of his career. It was hard to lose but Berdych played excellently and Tommy is just amazing. How he managed to get back in the match against Zib I don't know."

Haas, who lost a five-setter on Friday and played the Saturday doubles, looked exhausted after dropping the first set but somehow staged the unlikely comeback.

"I didn't think about his ranking," said Haas of the lower-ranked Zib. "I just tried to win the last point. Zib played great tennis for almost two sets. But now Germany is back where it belongs."

Spain d. Italy 3-2

The Italians had the Spaniards on the ropes entering Sunday, but Rafael Nadal defeated Italy's Andreas Seppi in four sets to set up Juan Carlos Ferrero for redemption, with the former No. 1 schooling Daniele Bracciali 6-3, 6-0, 6-3 to keep Spain in the World Group for 2006.

"I had confidence in Juan Carlos to get the result," said Spanish captain Jordi Arrese. "He was unlucky in his first match and Seppi deserves a lot of credit for that result, but Juan Carlos showed his quality and how ideal he is for this competition with that win. I had no doubts about him at all."

Sweden leads India 2-0

Thomas Johansson put Sweden one match from victory with a 7-6(3), 7-6(2), 7-6(4) win over Rohan Bopanna Sunday, but Simon Aspelin and Jonas Bjorkman were delayed from putting a cap on the tie when poor lighting stopped play for the day, with the Swedes leading Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi 6-3, 1-3.

Switzerland d. Britain 5-0

George Bastl bakes a bagel in a win over David Sherwood and Stan Wawrinka beats Alan Mackin for the 5-0 Switzerland humiliation of Britain.

U.S. d. Belgium 4-1

Andy Roddick's serve carried him through a brutal five-setter as the top American clinched a return to the 2006 World Group on Sunday with a 6-7(4), 7-6(4), 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-3 win on red clay over Olivier Rochus.

"We're looking good for next year," U.S. captain Patrick McEnroe said. "We hope we get a pretty decent draw and are able to play some at home. It gives us a boost to win away in a tough claycourt match. That gives us a lot of confidence for next year."

A controversial call in the fifth set went against Belgium and incensed the crowd and the Belgian team, muting the U.S. celebration after the match.

"To be honest, after what happened, it would have been unprofessional to go on and on," Roddick said on celebrating the win. "The team came on court, but I said, 'Let's get out of here.' It wouldn't be right (to celebrate on court), especially because you don't want that quality a match to end like that."